2011-02-08

25 January 2011 was the day when people of Egypt went to the streets in several cities to demonstrate against President Mubarak and the current regime.

Online platforms and social websites were highly utilized by activists to mobilize youth and spread the word before January 25. On the first of day of demonstrations, the government started to crackdown on communication and online platforms to limit the flow of information on what is happening and despite that crackdown, people of Egypt were still able to deliver videos, pictures and thoughts from the demonstrations all over Egypt and it didn’t affect mobilizing people to join peaceful assemblies.

Among many different tactics activists used to spread the multimedia is building tents in Tahrir Square (Downtown, Cairo) and hanging a sign “Gathering Picture and Videos” to compile footage and pictures from demonstrators and uploading them online.

Here is the sequence of communication shutdown by the government starting 25 January (approximate figures):

4. Thursday 27 January 2011 - 09:40pm: short message service (SMS) and internet connection shutdown (except one internet service provider where the government moved on the stock exchange and financial process).

5. Friday 28 January 2011: landlines shutdown in some areas in Cairo, satellite internet connection is interrupted, some mobile lines are re-activated and phone-calls service shutdown almost along the day on wide range of cell-phone users.